How much could i expect to pay for lap band surgery?

While it is true that every surgical procedure has its price (i.e. financial side to it), it tends to fluctuate with the choice of a state (or country), surgeon and clinic that one decides to opt for. In addition, the costs tend to rise in those cases that require a more complex approach and thus make the entire surgical venture far more demanding. Given the fact that a lap band surgery falls into the category of those more serious ones, in quite a lot of cases, the overall costs tend to be pretty high. Besides a number of procedure-directed questions, the top spot on the list is, in the case of many, reserved for the questions related to the overall costs of the entire procedure.

Cost determiners

When it comes to this specific procedure, many different factors affect the final 'tab'. Namely, this depends on a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration right from the start. But, prior to reaching this stage, the one that needs to be completed with success as well is the 'qualifying stage', i.e. a phase in which it is determined whether a person in question is suitable for this kind of procedure or not.

According to the official prerequisites, if a person in question is endowed with a BMI (i.e. the body mass index) of 40 and above, only then does he/she qualify for it according to the criteria set forth by the National Institutes of Health. In addition, those people whose BMI is between 35 and 39 also qualify, but only if they suffer from a severe medical ailment that is in direct connection with the person's weight in general. Those ailments accounted for include such as high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.

In case a person fails to meet any of the requirements set forth by the NHI and stated above, unfortunately, he/she will need to provide financing for the entire procedure from his/her own budget.

Price list

If the entire procedure is done on the soil of the United States, one should be prepared to pay anywhere from 17,000 to 30,000 US dollars, both the surgery and the post-op treatment included, providing that there occur no unexpected issues on the way. On the other hand, if performed outside the United States, then people can expect much lower costs, i.e. anywhere from 11,000 to 16,000 dollars, and this is valid both for Europe and Australia.